Bilal ibn Abi Rabah
بِلَالُ بْنُ أَبِي رَبَاحBilāl ibn Abī Rabāḥ
Companion · First Muadhdhin of Islam
Biography
Bilāl ibn Abī Rabāḥ رضي الله عنه was an Abyssinian slave owned by Umayya ibn Khalaf of Quraysh. He was one of the very earliest Muslims, converted in the first days of Islām. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم described him, along with Abū Bakr, as one of his 'two followers' in that earliest period.
When he accepted Islām, Umayya tortured him on the burning sands of Makkah in the midday heat, placing a heavy boulder on his chest to make him renounce Islām. Bilāl's only response was: أَحَدٌ أَحَدٌ, 'One. One.' Abū Bakr purchased him and freed him. He became the first muadhdhin (caller to prayer) of Islām, appointed by the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم himself. His voice called the adhān for the rest of the Prophet's صلى الله عليه وسلم life.
Stories
The Death of Umayyah ibn Khalaf: Bilal's Voice, Divine Justice
historicalDr. Yasir Qadhi narrates the death of Umayyah ibn Khalaf, the Qurashī slavemaster who tortured Bilāl ibn Abī Rabāḥ, and the extraordinary Divine justi…
Read the full story →Bilal: From 'Ahadun Ahad' in the Dust to the Roof of the Kaabah
companion biographyBilāl ibn Abī Rabāḥ رضي الله عنه was an Abyssinian slave owned by Umayya ibn Khalaf of the Banū Jumah clan, and Umayya had a sadistic streak that the…
Read the full story →The Breaking of the Boycott and the Return from Shiʿb Abī Ṭālib
storyContext: In the 7th year of the Dawah, after the conversions of Ḥamzah and ʿUmar, which deeply threatened Quraysh, all of the Qurashī sub-tribes gathe…
Read the full story →The Private Dawah: The First Muslims
storyThe first phase of the Dawah was not public. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم moved carefully, privately, speaking only to those who were closest to him…
Read the full story →The Institution of the Adhan: Abdullah ibn Zayd's Dream
storyWithin the first month or two after the Prophet ﷺ arrived in Madinah, a practical problem arose: how would people know when it was time for prayer? *…
Read the full story →The Muhajirun's Homesickness and the Prophet's Dua for Madinah
early islamDespite all the blessings of Madinah, its lush date palms, its water, its generous and welcoming Anṣār, the early Muhājirūn did not love Madinah. Not…
Read the full story →The Persecution of the Early Muslims: Abu Jahl's Three-Tier System
storyWhen the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم went public with the Dawah, the social architecture of Makkah determined who bore the consequences. Everything in…
Read the full story →The Missed Asr Prayer, and the Fiqh of Making Up Prayers
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: On one particularly intense day of skirmishing and arrow fire during the siege, the fighting became so constant that the…
Read the full story →The Missed Fajr on the Return
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: On the way home, after a long day's march pressed late into the night, for the Prophet ﷺ favored night travel, noting th…
Read the full story →Cleansing the Kaʿbah: Truth Has Come
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: Before dealing with the business of conquest, the Prophet ﷺ went straight to the Kaʿbah to worship Allāh, this was the p…
Read the full story →Bilal's Adhan from the Kaʿbah
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: After the sermon, the Prophet ﷺ ordered Bilāl to climb atop the Kaʿbah and give the adhān, the first ever from the holie…
Read the full story →The Delegation of Thaqif and the Destruction of al-Lat
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: After the killing of ʿUrwah ibn Masʿūd, the people of Ṭāʾif were terrified. His blood was on their hands, their conscien…
Read the full story →The ḥadīth of Jābir, the rites of the Farewell Ḥajj
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: From the 8th onward the books of Sīrah and Ḥadīth carry hundreds of narrations of what he ﷺ did at each moment of the Ḥa…
Read the full story →Abū Bakr is told to lead the prayer
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: Around the fifth day of his sickness, six or seven days before he passed, he asked for buckets of water from a particula…
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